We spent 4 weeks one June driving Iceland’s full ring highway, and it rained on extra days than it didn’t. Not dramatic, storm-chasing rain. Simply regular, affected person, all-day rain, with occasional breaks so the wind may have a flip. By the top of the journey we knew precisely what belonged in our luggage, largely as a result of we’d discovered the laborious manner what didn’t.
That journey is what this packing checklist is constructed on, and it’s knowledgeable by the precise drawback of an Iceland summer time, which seems to be much less about chilly than about moist. Issues get moist, then they should dry, and also you want a plan that handles that.
Fast word earlier than we begin: this information covers summer time journeys, roughly Could to September. When you’re visiting between October and April, you need our Iceland winter packing checklist as a substitute. It’s a unique checklist for what’s, in observe, a unique nation.
What to Pack for Iceland in Summer time: The Fast Reply
Right here’s the core checklist. Pack a water-resistant shell jacket and waterproof trousers, waterproof boots plus a second pair of sneakers, three or 4 merino base layers (two in case your journey is beneath per week), a heat mid layer reminiscent of a fleece, a hat, gloves and a buff, a swimsuit and quick-dry towel, a sleep masks, a day pack with a rain cowl, and a European Kind C/F journey adapter. Daytime highs within the lowlands run 13 to fifteen°C. You’ll not want shorts, and you’ll positively not want an umbrella.
The 5 gadgets folks most frequently skip, and most frequently remorse skipping:
Waterproof trousers (we made this error, extra on that under)
A second pair of sneakers, so yesterday’s soaked pair can dry
A sleep masks, as a result of June nights by no means get darkish
A midge head web if Mývatn is in your route
A swimsuit, for the swimming pools and lagoons you’ll wish to get into
There’s a full guidelines on the finish you may work via, plus a printable model.
Pack for Drying, as A lot as for Rain
Bringing waterproofs is the simple a part of the packing checklist. The tougher half is what occurs after they get moist. On a visit of quite a lot of days, the query that decides your consolation every morning is whether or not yesterday’s moist equipment has dried, and no jacket solutions that one.
When it rains most days, all the things operates on a rotation. Boots take a day or two to dry. A soaked base layer wants a radiator or a drying room in a single day. Waterfall spray will get you even when the forecast doesn’t, and in case you stroll behind Seljalandsfoss (it’s best to, it’s probably the greatest waterfalls in Iceland), you’ll come out trying such as you swam there.
So the variety of base layers you want comes right down to a drying calculation. Guesthouses in Iceland are often fairly good on this entrance, with radiators in each room and infrequently a devoted drying room. We stayed in guesthouses the entire manner spherical, and draping the day’s equipment over a radiator grew to become as a lot part of the night routine as dinner.
Yet another factor about rain jackets, as a result of virtually everybody misdiagnoses it. Underneath sustained rain, the water-repellent coating on the surface of your jacket (the DWR) ultimately offers up, and the face material soaks. Your jacket has not began leaking. The waterproof membrane beneath continues to be doing its job. What fails is breathability, so your individual sweat condenses contained in the jacket, and you find yourself damp and chilly from the within whereas the membrane retains each drop of rain out. It’s a horrible sensation, and I can report from expertise that it feels precisely like a leak.
The repair is upkeep slightly than a brand new jacket. Wash the jacket, tumble dry it on low to reactivate the coating, and if that stops working, use a wash-in re-proofer. We now journey with a small 100ml bottle of wash-in re-proofer on any journey longer than a few weeks. Two different suggestions: clear the jacket earlier than re-proofing (re-proofing a grimy shell is the basic mistake), and in case your jacket is new, word that the present PFAS-free coatings want this remedy extra typically than the older chemistry did.
What to Pack by Journey Kind
One checklist doesn’t match each Iceland journey. A 3 day stopover, a full ring highway drive, a campervan journey and a highlands go to are 4 completely different packing issues, and the variations matter greater than many of the item-level recommendation.
Journey sort
What modifications
Our information
2 to 4 day stopover
Cabin bag territory. One shell, one base layer per day, skip the boots in case you’re staying on paved paths. Day journeys cowl lots from Reykjavik.
3 day Iceland stopover itinerary and day journeys from Reykjavik
5 to 7 days, southwest focus
The complete clothes system, however laundry is optionally available. Golden Circle and south coast means waterfall spray, so waterproof trousers transfer from helpful to obligatory.
5 day Iceland itinerary and Golden Circle information
7 to twenty-eight days, full ring highway
The drying rotation turns into the entire sport. Second footwear, three to 4 base layers, re-proofer. Your bag lives within the automotive, so a duffel or backpack beats a tough shell case.
Iceland ring highway itinerary
Campervan
No radiators, so drying capability drops to regardless of the van’s heater manages in a single day. Add a washing line, extra base layers, and be extra ruthless about staying dry within the first place.
Driving in Iceland suggestions
Highlands add-on
Roughly 4 to six°C colder than the lowlands, no telephone sign, and the roads open late (extra under). Add a heat insulated layer and register your plans at safetravel.is.
See the F-road part under
We did the 4 week model, staying in guesthouses, with a superjeep day tour into Landmannalaugar slightly than driving the F-roads ourselves. When you’re weighing up the choices, the ring highway itinerary linked above is the place we’d begin.
The Iceland Layering System
Icelandic climate modifications quick sufficient that the forecast is extra of a temper board than a plan. Layers are the way you cope, and the system is straightforward: a base layer towards your pores and skin, a mid layer for heat, and a shell to maintain the climate out.
The bottom layer does extra work than folks count on, which is why we suggest merino wool over cotton or low cost synthetics. Merino retains insulating when it’s damp, dries rapidly on a radiator, and (the underrated half) doesn’t scent after a few wears, which issues when laundry is per week away.
The mid layer is your heat, and an ordinary fleece or a lightweight insulated jacket is okay. The shell is your climate safety, and it’s the place the cash goes. What you virtually by no means want in an Iceland summer time is a heavy winter coat. In fact, on the warmest July days you’ll be right down to the bottom layer and questioning why you’re carrying the remaining, and by night you’ll have all of it again on. That’s simply Iceland.
Rain Jacket and Waterproof Trousers
These are the 2 gadgets your journey truly is determined by, in order that they’re value getting proper.
For the jacket, you desire a totally waterproof laborious shell with taped seams and a hood that cinches down, as a result of Icelandic rain not often falls straight down. It arrives sideways, with enthusiasm. Waterproof jackets, softshells and “bathe proof” something may have a foul time.
I exploit the Bluffworks Faroe rain jacket, which has a 16,000mm waterproof score, totally taped seams, and packs into its personal pocket. It’s the jacket I purchased after the journey taught me what my previous one couldn’t do, and it’s been on each moist journey since.
On a tighter finances, the Columbia Watertight II (males’s) and Columbia Arcadia II (girls’s) are each totally seam-sealed waterproof shells that pack down small, and so they’re a very stable alternative for a primary journey.
Now, waterproof trousers. We didn’t pack any on our ring highway journey. This was a significant oversight that crammed me with remorse, and it’s the one merchandise I’d most insist you deliver. jacket retains your high half dry whereas rain, waterfall spray and moist vegetation take care of your legs, and moist mountain climbing trousers in a 13°C wind are depressing in a manner that’s laborious to understand till you’ve spent an extended afternoon in them. Which I did.
We personal waterproof trousers now, and so they come on each journey like this.
You don’t want something fancy. A packable over-trouser that goes on over your regular strolling trousers is strictly proper, and the Marmot PreCip Eco rain trousers are a well-made waterproof pair with totally taped seams that pack right down to nothing in a day bag.
Footwear: Waterproof Boots Plus a Second Pair
Jess and I’ve each finished our Iceland miles in Scarpa strolling boots we’ve owned for years, and the necessities are easy to state: waterproof, ankle assist, and a sole that grips on moist basalt, which is Iceland’s default floor.
When you’re shopping for new for the journey, the Merrell Moab 3 Mid Waterproof (there’s a girls’s model too) is the choose we suggest. It has a water-resistant membrane, a Vibram sole, and it’s comfy out of the field with no lengthy breaking-in interval, which issues when the journey is three weeks away. Jess wore Merrell’s on her hike up Kilimanjaro and had no complaints.
A second pair of sneakers reads like an optionally available consolation till you’re on a moist journey, after which it’s a necessity. Boots that acquired soaked at a waterfall within the afternoon is not going to be dry by morning, regardless of the radiator guarantees. You want one thing to put on whereas they get better.
My second pair is the Vessi Weekend Traditional, a knit waterproof coach I’ve used for a few years now. They’re comfy for cities and simple walks, they shrug off rain and puddles, and so they dry quick after they do ultimately meet a deep sufficient puddle. Trainers you already personal will even do the job, so long as you settle for they might spend some days being the moist pair.
A Fast Phrase on Socks
Merino mountain climbing socks, 4 or 5 pairs. Moist toes are the quickest path to a ruined day, and cotton socks in damp boots are a blister manufacturing facility. Merino pairs additionally dry in a single day on a radiator, which cotton doesn’t reliably do, so 5 pairs is a lot even for a month.
Base Layers and Mid Layers: How Many to Pack
Right here’s the place the drying logic turns into precise numbers. For something as much as per week: two merino base layer tops, plus regular t-shirts to put on beneath them or alone on heat days. For a hoop highway journey of two weeks or extra: three or 4 base layers, on the idea that at any given second one is being worn, one is drying, and one is in reserve. We ran precisely that rotation for 4 weeks and it by no means broke down, although it got here shut after back-to-back soakings within the east.
Our choose right here is the Smartwool Traditional Thermal Merino Crew, a 100% merino high that’s heat for its weight. It’s not low cost, however a base layer is the one clothes merchandise the place the costly model measurably outperforms.
For mid layers, one fleece and one mild insulated jacket covers each summer time state of affairs, together with the highlands. Add a heat hat, mild gloves and a buff. Sure, in July. The buff particularly will get used continuously, as a result of the wind is the true climate in Iceland and a buff is the distinction between a windy overlook being enjoyable and being an endurance occasion.
For trousers, regular mountain climbing trousers are best. Denims are fantastic for Reykjavik and dinner, however they’re a legal responsibility on trails, as a result of moist denim stays moist, heavy and chilly for days. Extra on that within the FAQ.
The Gear We Suggest at a Look
The whole lot above and under in a single desk. Costs replace stay the place Amazon publishes them, and all the things right here was confirmed in inventory once we revealed.
Merchandise
Our choose
Why it issues in Iceland
Value
Rain jacket (premium)
Bluffworks Faroe
16,000mm waterproof score, taped seams, packable. The one I carry.
Test value
Rain jacket (finances, males’s)
Columbia Watertight II
Absolutely seam-sealed waterproof shell, packs into its personal pocket.
Test value on Amazon
Rain jacket (finances, girls’s)
Columbia Arcadia II
Identical waterproof building because the Watertight II, girls’s match.
Test value on Amazon
Waterproof trousers
Marmot PreCip Eco
Taped seams, packs to nothing. The merchandise we most regretted not having.
Test value on Amazon
Climbing boots (males’s)
Merrell Moab 3 Mid WP
Waterproof membrane, Vibram grip for moist basalt, no breaking-in.
Test value on Amazon
Climbing boots (girls’s)
Merrell Moab 3 Mid WP
Identical boot, girls’s match and sizing.
Test value on Amazon
Second pair of sneakers
Vessi Weekend Traditional
Waterproof knit coach, dries quick. Covers the drying rotation.
Test value
Base layer
Smartwool Thermal Merino Crew
100% merino. Insulates when damp, dries in a single day, no scent.
Test value on Amazon
Day pack
Vanguard VEO Metro B20L
Water resistant with a rain cowl included, matches a digicam setup.
Test value on Amazon
Water bottle
Klean Kanteen Traditional
Icelandic faucet water is superb and free. Fill from the chilly faucet.
Test value on Amazon
Journey adapter
Epicka Common Adapter
Covers Iceland’s Kind C/F sockets, prices a number of units directly.
Test value on Amazon
Energy financial institution
INIU P63
25,000mAh, 100W. Lengthy days between sockets, telephones on navigation obligation.
Test value on Amazon
Midge head web
Sea to Summit Extremely-Mesh
23 grams of sanity for Mývatn’s midge clouds.
Test value on Amazon
Binoculars
Vortex Diamondback HD 8×42
Puffins, whales and seabird cliffs. The pair I exploit most days at house.
Test value
Iceland Summer time Climate: The Precise Numbers
Lowland Iceland runs daytime highs of 13 to fifteen°C and in a single day lows of 5 to 9°C throughout June, July and August. That single reality settles most packing arguments, and revealed summer time figures for Iceland fluctuate sufficient that the supply issues. These are Icelandic Met Workplace local weather averages, by way of vedur.is.
Area (station)
June excessive / low
July excessive / low
August excessive / low
Reference interval
Southwest (Reykjavik)
13.0 / 7.2°C
14.9 / 9.1°C
14.1 / 8.6°C
1991 to 2020
North (Akureyri)
13.7 / 6.6°C
15.1 / 8.5°C
14.8 / 7.9°C
1991 to 2020
East (Egilsstadir)
13.1 / 5.0°C
14.8 / 6.6°C
13.9 / 6.2°C
1961 to 1990
Highlands (Hveravellir, 650m)
9.1 / 1.9°C
11.5 / 4.2°C
10.6 / 3.7°C
1965 to 2004
Two notes on that desk. The east’s figures come from an older reference interval, so present summers there are probably a contact hotter than proven. And the highlands row is the one to take significantly: roughly 4 to six°C colder than the coast, with in a single day lows close to 2°C in June and nonetheless solely 4°C in July. Summer time tenting at altitude in Iceland is a cold-weather exercise sporting a summer time costume.
On rain, Reykjavik averages about 9 to 12 days per 30 days in summer time with at the very least 1mm of rain (43mm falling in June rising to 65mm in August), whereas Akureyri within the north is noticeably drier, with round 5 rain days and 21mm in June. Two issues these figures disguise. August is the wettest summer time month in every single place. And that 1mm threshold doesn’t depend the sunshine, persistent drizzle that Iceland does so effectively, which soaks equipment simply as successfully as an actual rain day. The official depend says it rained “correctly” on ten days; your drying rotation will report the next quantity.
And daylight. Across the June solstice, Reykjavik will get 21 hours and 16 minutes of daylight, and the few remaining hours are twilight slightly than darkness. You’ll learn the phrase “midnight solar” in every single place, and for mainland Iceland it isn’t fairly true: Reykjavik sits south of the Arctic Circle, so the solar does briefly set. Solely the island of Grímsey, on the Circle itself, will get the solar for a full 24 hours. What you truly expertise from late Could to late July is that it by no means will get darkish, which for packing functions is similar factor. Therefore the sleep masks.
Non-Clothes Necessities
The equipment past garments, in tough order of how a lot you’d miss it.
Sleep Masks
The most affordable merchandise on this checklist and presumably probably the most used. Icelandic lodging has acquired a bit higher at blackout curtains over time, however loads of guesthouse rooms nonetheless have curtains that politely filter the 11pm sunshine slightly than blocking it. A contoured sleep masks weighs nothing and rescues each evening of the journey. Deliver one per individual, as a result of the individual with out one will try and steal the opposite’s by day three.
Swimsuit, Fast-Dry Towel and Flip-Flops
Swimming is among the greatest issues you are able to do in Iceland, and the well-known lagoons are solely half of it. Almost each city has a geothermal pool with sizzling tubs, often costing a fraction of the large lagoons.
The Blue Lagoon and Sky Lagoon are each working usually as of summer time 2026 (the Reykjanes peninsula stays in an lively volcanic interval, and the Icelandic Met Workplace publishes an up to date hazard evaluation on its information feed, so it’s value a look close to your dates). Pack the swimsuit, a quick-dry towel, and flip-flops for the altering rooms. You’ll be able to in fact lease a towel at most swimming pools, however it provides up quick.
Journey Adapter
Iceland makes use of the usual European two-pin sockets (Kind C and F) at 230V. UK and US guests want an adapter; telephone chargers and laptop computer bricks are virtually universally twin voltage, so an adapter is all you want, not a converter. We journey with the Epicka common adapter, a 45W GaN unit that prices a telephone, laptop computer and digicam batteries from one socket, which issues in guesthouse rooms that may be a bit stingy with sockets.
Reusable Water Bottle
Icelandic chilly faucet water is among the many greatest on the earth, filtered via volcanic rock, protected in every single place, and free. Shopping for bottled water in Iceland is paying for one thing that comes out of each faucet. One warning: the recent faucet is geothermal and smells of sulphur (assume eggs). It’s innocent, however fill your bottle from the chilly faucet until you take pleasure in egg water. We feature Klean Kanteen Traditional bottles, single-wall stainless-steel that’s survived years of being dropped on rocks.
Day Pack With a Rain Cowl
You want a bag for every day trip that may take waterfall spray and a rain bathe with out soaking your digicam, snacks and spare layer. Our present choose is the Vanguard VEO Metro B20L, a 20 litre pack that swallows a digicam plus the day’s equipment. To be clear in regards to the spec, since this issues in Iceland: the bag itself is waterproof with a DWR coating, not waterproof, and it comes with a rain cowl within the field for when the climate will get critical. That mixture is strictly proper; it’s the duvet that does the heavy lifting in actual rain. I’ve been a Vanguard ambassador for years, so issue that in as you want, however I used to be carrying their luggage round Iceland lengthy earlier than that association existed. You can too purchase it direct from Vanguard, the place the code FindingTheUniverse takes 20% off.
Energy Financial institution
Iceland days are lengthy, your telephone is the navigator, the digicam, and the “is that this highway open” checker, and sockets are wherever you slept final. A giant energy financial institution removes the entire drawback. I carry the INIU P63, a 25,000mAh unit that fast-charges a laptop computer in addition to telephones. In case your route touches the highlands, the place there’s no sign on any community, a charged energy financial institution strikes from comfort to security equipment.
Sun shades and Sunscreen
Counterintuitive however actual. When the solar does seem it sits low for hours at a time, straight into your eyes on a westbound drive, and 20 hour days add as much as loads of UV publicity even via cloud. A small sunscreen and first rate sun shades take no house and get used greater than you’d assume.
Binoculars
The optionally available merchandise I’d argue for hardest. June and July are peak puffin season, the seabird cliffs maintain extra birds than you may soak up with the bare eye, and there’s an affordable probability of whales from shore within the north, by no means thoughts on a whale watching journey.
I exploit binoculars most days at house for birdwatching, and the pair I attain for is the Vortex Diamondback HD 8×42, which is waterproof, fog proof, and about one of the best glass you may get earlier than costs go foolish. 8×42 is the spec to purchase for wildlife.
Midges at Mývatn (and What Really Bites)
In case your route contains Lake Mývatn within the north, and on a hoop highway journey it ought to, pack a head web. The lake’s identify actually means “midge lake”, and on heat, nonetheless summer time days the midge clouds there should be seen to be believed. We drove into them in June and the sound alone was memorable.
There are two separate insect issues right here, and so they want completely different equipment. The clouds at Mývatn are lake midges (chironomids), and so they don’t chunk. There’s nothing to repel, so repellent is the unsuitable device; the issue is sheer density in your eyes, nostril and mouth, and a fine-mesh head web solves it utterly. The Sea to Summit Extremely-Mesh head web weighs 23 grams and its mesh is okay sufficient for the smallest bugs. It appears ridiculous. Everybody sporting one at Mývatn is having a greater day than everybody who isn’t.
However don’t let anybody let you know nothing in Iceland bites. Blackflies, which Icelanders name bitmý (“biting midge”), thrive round fast-flowing water just like the River Laxá proper subsequent to Mývatn. And biting midges of the no-see-um type arrived in Iceland in 2015 and have been spreading since, with confirmed finds so far as the northeast. The excellence issues in your equipment: the top web handles the swarms that destroy your pictures, and lengthy sleeves deal with the small variety of issues which may wish to chunk you. Neither requires drenching your self in repellent.
Getting On-line in Iceland
The sensible reply for many guests is an eSIM, purchased and put in earlier than you fly. We use and suggest Airalo, which sells Iceland knowledge plans from just a few {dollars}; our full Airalo overview covers the way it works, and our information to one of the best journey eSIMs compares the alternate options. Word that these plans are data-only, so calls occur over WhatsApp and mates.
Protection-wise, you’ll have a sign for many of the ring highway and in each city. Anticipate it to drop within the East Fjords between Höfn and Egilsstadir, in some distant valleys, and, utterly and on each community, within the highlands. That final one is why offline maps and a charged energy financial institution belong in your equipment, and why anybody heading into the inside ought to file a journey plan at safetravel.is first.
Digital camera Gear for Iceland in Summer time
As knowledgeable journey photographer I may fill three articles on this, and actually I’ve, so I’ll maintain this to what an Iceland summer time particularly calls for and level you at our Iceland pictures areas information for the the place.
The 2 issues Iceland throws at digicam gear are spray and wind. Pack extra lens cloths than you assume is affordable; on the large waterfalls you’ll wipe the entrance ingredient between each few frames, and a fabric that’s already damp simply redistributes the issue. A rain cowl for the bag is non-negotiable (see the day pack part above), and a easy dry bag or perhaps a bin liner is value packing for the stroll behind Seljalandsfoss.
On our ring highway journey I carried all the things in a Vanguard Alta Sky 49, which did 4 moist weeks with out criticism. That actual mannequin has since been discontinued, and our information to one of the best digicam luggage for journey covers what we’d select at present. The lengthy daylight, by the best way, is a combined blessing: you get 21 hours to shoot, however “golden hour” occurs round midnight, which requires both dedication or a nap-based technique. We tried each.
What NOT to Pack for Iceland
Area issues, so right here’s what to confidently go away at house.
An umbrella. Iceland’s rain is horizontal and its wind is knowledgeable. An umbrella lasts roughly one automotive park earlier than it turns into fashionable artwork. Each native you meet will probably be wearing a shell jacket, and none of them will probably be holding an umbrella.
Cotton for the outside. Cotton t-shirts for city and sleep are fantastic. Cotton as a mountain climbing layer is an issue, as a result of as soon as damp it stays damp, stops insulating, and drags your drying rotation down with it. Denims are the worst offender right here.
A “summer time” wardrobe. Shorts, sundresses and linen shirts describe a summer time Iceland doesn’t have. One warm-day outfit is a fantastic guess for a fortunate afternoon; 5 of them is baggage you’ll carry across the ring highway unworn.
A heavy winter parka. The alternative mistake. A base layer, fleece and shell handles each lowland summer time state of affairs, and an enormous parka simply eats a 3rd of your bag.
Bottled-water finances. Not an merchandise precisely, however deliver the reusable bottle and skip shopping for water completely.
When you’re attempting to squeeze all this right into a carry-on, packing cubes assist greater than some other single trick; we’ve examined a pile of them in our packing cubes information.
Iceland Packing by Month: Could to September
The core checklist above works for the entire season. Right here’s what shifts on the edges.
Could: colder nights, fewer crowds, and a few highland roads nonetheless shut. Add an additional mid layer; maintain any highland plans loosely till the highway reviews say in any other case.
June: the longest days and, within the north, the driest stretch of the summer time. The sleep masks does its heaviest work now. Peak puffin viewing begins.
July: the warmest month in every single place, and the month a fortunate traveller wears a t-shirt at Mývatn whereas swatting midges. The complete checklist applies as written.
August: the wettest summer time month at each station, so the drying-rotation logic issues most now. Actual darkness returns late within the month, which additionally means the primary aurora sightings of the season change into potential proper on the finish.
September: shoulder season. Storms choose up, highland roads start closing, and it’s best to add again a hotter mid layer and hotter gloves. In change: autumn colors, aurora possibilities, and half the guests.
A Word on the Highlands and F-Roads
If Landmannalaugar, Askja or any route marked with an F is in your checklist, timing is a part of packing. The mountain roads open when the snow and river ranges enable, not on a schedule. During the last 5 years the earliest routes (like Kjölur) have opened across the begin of June on common, whereas Sprengisandur and the southern Fjallabak route have waited till early July. These are five-year averages and snow cowl decides the precise date, so examine present standing at umferdin.is earlier than committing.
We visited Landmannalaugar by superjeep day tour slightly than self-driving, which I’d suggest for a primary journey: the river crossings are significantly past a standard rent automotive, and the tour operators cross them every day. Packing-wise the highlands imply the insulated layer, hat and gloves come out in July, plus that no-signal warning from the connectivity part.
What We’d Pack In another way Subsequent Time
4 weeks of Icelandic June rain is a radical audit of a packing checklist, and ours failed it in two particular locations. I’m sharing each so you may skip the sphere testing.
First, we introduced no waterproof trousers. I’ve talked about this above however it deserves its personal paragraph, as a result of nothing else we acquired unsuitable price us as a lot consolation. Each waterfall go to, each showery stroll, each windy headland put water on our legs, and mountain climbing trousers in that local weather dry on roughly a geological timescale. We now personal waterproof trousers and so they journey with us on each wet-country journey. Purchase the over-trouser type, maintain them within the day pack, and also you’ll use them inside 48 hours of touchdown.
Second, my rain jacket was an previous one whose water repellency had quietly retired some years earlier. In sustained rain the outer material soaked, the breathability collapsed, and I acquired the total wet-from-the-inside expertise described earlier on this information, repeatedly, earlier than I understood what was occurring. The jacket wasn’t leaking; it simply couldn’t breathe. A more moderen shell, and even that previous one with a wash and re-proof earlier than the journey, would have made an actual distinction. Test your jacket earlier than you fly: if water not beads on the floor, take care of it at house the place the washer is.
What we acquired proper, for steadiness: the merino rotation, the second pair of sneakers, and the choice to base ourselves in guesthouses with radiators. These three carried the journey.
Iceland Summer time Packing Guidelines
The complete checklist in checkable kind. There’s additionally a printable Iceland summer time packing guidelines PDF, no e-mail deal with required.
Clothes
Waterproof shell jacket (taped seams, cinching hood)
Waterproof over-trousers
3 to 4 merino base layer tops (2 for journeys beneath per week)
Fleece or mild insulated mid layer
Climbing trousers x2
T-shirts and underwear per your laundry plans
Heat hat, mild gloves, buff
4 to five pairs merino mountain climbing socks
One city/night outfit
Sleepwear
Footwear
Waterproof mountain climbing boots
Second pair of sneakers (waterproof trainers best)
Flip-flops for pool altering rooms
Equipment
Day pack with rain cowl
Swimsuit and quick-dry towel
Sleep masks (one every!)
Kind C/F journey adapter
Energy financial institution
Reusable water bottle
Sun shades and sunscreen
Midge head web (Mývatn routes)
Binoculars (puffin season)
Digital camera, lens cloths, dry bag
Wash-in re-proofer, 100ml (journeys over 2 weeks)
eSIM put in earlier than departure
Paperwork and Admin
Driving licence (all named drivers)
Journey insurance coverage particulars
Offline maps downloaded
Journey plan filed at safetravel.is (highland routes)
Often Requested Questions
What ought to I pack for Iceland?
For many of the yr, the summer time checklist on this web page is the reply: a water-resistant shell jacket and trousers, waterproof boots plus a second pair of sneakers, merino base layers, a fleece, hat and gloves, a swimsuit, a sleep masks and a day pack with a rain cowl.
When you’re travelling between October and April, the checklist modifications considerably, with critical insulation, ice grips and thermal layers. Our Iceland winter packing checklist covers that model.
Do I really want waterproof trousers for Iceland in summer time?
Sure, and we are saying that as individuals who skipped them as soon as and regretted it for 4 weeks. Rain, waterfall spray and moist vegetation all goal your legs, and regular mountain climbing trousers take days to dry as soon as soaked.
A packable over-trouser just like the Marmot PreCip Eco lives within the day pack and goes on in beneath a minute when the climate turns.
What number of base layers do I would like for per week in Iceland?
Two merino base layer tops for per week, worn in rotation with one drying in a single day. For 2 weeks or extra, take three or 4.
The explanation it’s that few: merino dries in a single day on a radiator and doesn’t maintain scent, so the rotation works. With cotton you’d want way more, which is considered one of a number of causes to not deliver cotton.
Can I put on denims in Iceland?
In Reykjavik, at dinner, and round city, denims are in fact fantastic. On trails and at waterfalls, we’d advise towards it. Moist denim is heavy, chilly, and may take days to dry, which in Iceland’s local weather makes it the worst material you may select for the outside.
Deliver one pair for evenings in case you like, and do your strolling in mountain climbing trousers.
Do I would like mountain climbing boots for Iceland, or will trainers do?
For many journeys, sure, boots. Icelandic terrain is moist basalt, unfastened gravel and boggy grass, and in style trails are rougher than their fame suggests.
For a metropolis stopover with paved-path sightseeing, waterproof trainers are sufficient. For something involving waterfalls, coastlines or actual walks, waterproof boots with ankle assist are the fitting name.
Do I would like a heat coat or down jacket in Iceland in summer time?
Not a heavy one, within the lowlands. A merino base layer, a fleece and a water-resistant shell layered collectively deal with 13 to fifteen°C days and windy overlooks comfortably.
The exception is the highlands, which run 4 to six°C colder, with in a single day lows close to 2°C in June and round 4°C in July. In case your route goes up there, add a lightweight insulated jacket.
Is it value bringing an umbrella to Iceland?
No. Iceland’s rain virtually at all times comes with wind, often sideways, and umbrellas don’t survive contact with it. You’ll discover locals don’t carry them.
A hooded waterproof shell does the umbrella’s job whereas leaving each your fingers free.
Do I would like a sleep masks in Iceland in summer time?
Sure, and it’s the very best value-per-gram merchandise on the checklist. Round midsummer Reykjavik will get over 21 hours of daylight, and even the “evening” is twilight slightly than darkness.
Blackout curtains exist however aren’t assured, particularly in guesthouses. A contoured masks solves it for just a few kilos.
Ought to I pack a swimsuit for Iceland?
Positively. Geothermal swimming is a core Iceland expertise, from the well-known lagoons (Blue Lagoon and Sky Lagoon are each working usually as of summer time 2026) to a budget and glorious municipal swimming pools in virtually each city.
Add a quick-dry towel and flip-flops, and also you’ll skip the towel rental queue at each cease.
Do I would like insect repellent for the midges at Mývatn?
Repellent is the unsuitable device for Mývatn’s well-known swarms. These clouds are non-biting lake midges, so there’s nothing to repel; the issue is density, and a fine-mesh head web solves it.
Iceland does have some biting bugs (blackflies close to rivers just like the Laxá, and biting midges that arrived in 2015 and are spreading), however lengthy sleeves cowl that. Pack the web, skip the spray.
Are you able to drink the faucet water in Iceland?
Sure, in every single place, and it’s glorious. Fill your bottle from the chilly faucet.
The new faucet smells of sulphur as a result of it’s geothermal water; it’s innocent however not what you need in a ingesting bottle. Chilly faucet solely.
What plug adapter do I would like for Iceland?
Iceland makes use of the European Kind C and Kind F sockets at 230V, 50Hz. UK and US guests want a plug adapter.
Trendy telephone and laptop computer chargers are twin voltage, so that you don’t want a voltage converter, simply the adapter. One with a number of USB ports covers a pair’s units from a single socket.
Will my telephone have sign on the ring highway?
For many of it, sure, and in each city. Protection drops within the East Fjords between Höfn and Egilsstadir and in some distant valleys, and there’s no sign in any respect within the highlands on any community.
Obtain offline maps earlier than you go, and in case you’re heading into the inside, file a journey plan at safetravel.is.
What sneakers ought to I pack moreover mountain climbing boots?
A second closed pair for the times your boots are drying, ideally waterproof trainers, plus flip-flops for pool and lagoon altering rooms.
The second pair isn’t a luxurious on a moist journey. Boots soaked by afternoon waterfall spray is not going to be dry by morning, and somebody must be sporting sneakers at breakfast.
What’s the distinction between packing for summer time and winter in Iceland?
Summer time packing is about rain and drying capability at 13 to fifteen°C; winter packing is about actual chilly, ice and storm-force wind, which implies insulated boots, ice grips, thermal layers and a critical coat.
The 2 lists share surprisingly little past the swimsuit and the adapter. This web page covers summer time; our winter packing checklist covers the remaining.
Additional Studying for Your Iceland Journey
That’s all the things we’d put within the bag. When you’re nonetheless within the strategy planning stage, these guides proceed the place this one stops:
Questions on what to pack in your specific journey? Ask within the feedback and we’ll reply from expertise, or at the very least from the drier facet of it now.
